Orthodontic treatment involves repositioning of misaligned teeth to provide an improved appearance, bite relation, and masticating function. Repositioning teeth is accomplished by applying precision-controlled external forces to the teeth over a period of time. Orthodontists typically use one of two types of dental appliances to exert forces on the teeth, namely, fixed appliances and removable appliances.
Removable orthodontic appliances offer an alternative to conventional fixed orthodontic appliances. Minimal visibility during casual interactions is one of the benefits of removable orthodontic appliances. Patients generally prefer removable orthodontic appliances over fixed orthodontic appliances, because fixed orthodontic appliances are considered unsightly and are mostly used for adolescents. However, conventional removable orthodontic appliances lack strength, precision, and robustness of fixed orthodontic appliances which pose a problem for patients who require significant repositioning of teeth. Furthermore, removable orthodontic appliances may not always fit a patient's mouth properly, thereby causing pain or discomfort to the patient. This discomfort often negates the effectiveness of the orthodontic appliance.
To avoid a visible view of arch wires on a facial surface of the teeth, the arch wires are sometimes placed on the lingual surface of the teeth. Although some progress has been made with lingual placement of the arch wires, the small inter-bracket span, inaccessibility, and difficulty to adjust the arch wires make their use complicated. Thus, lingual placement is mostly used in simple and limited cases that involve minor tooth movement. Moreover, although a removable orthodontic appliance can use a wire and a bracket inside the removable orthodontic appliance to create a force for moving the teeth, the precision and strength of the removable orthodontic appliance are substantially less than the precision and the strength of fixed braces in which the bracket is bonded to the a surface of the teeth and in which the arch wires allow precise repositioning of the teeth. Therefore, there is a need for a system that is detachable and removable and can be precisely attached to a bonded base on a tooth for increasing the precision and the strength of the removable orthodontic appliance similar to a fixed bracket and wire system.
Hence, there is a long felt need for an orthodontic bracket and wire system that is detachably attachable to teeth with increased precision and strength for guiding alignment of teeth of an upper jaw or a lower jaw of a patient.